Foundations & Clarifications

Thanks to the guys at the Things Network Zurich, they have made a simple HowTo guide (https://github.com/ttn-zh/ic880a-gateway/wiki).

Don't be confused by the fact that they are referencing the iC880a board - you will make the necessary changes later on.

Hardware and Basic SW install

• Mount the boards. Connect the Antenna and the loopback USB Cable.
• Install RPi SW - https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/  - I selected RASPBIAN STRETCH LITE
• Login as pi
• Expand the Flash drive -  sudo raspi-config -> Advanced Options -> Expand Filesystem
• Turn on SSH : sudo raspi-config-> Interface Options -> SSH
• Expand the SPI  : sudo raspi-config-> Interface Options -> SPI 

• Add the WiFi Detail :  sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf - > 

          network={

                  ssid="The_SSID_of_your_wifi"

                  psk="Your_wifi_password"

                  }

• Reboot
• Do the updates & install git  : sudo apt-get -y update ; sudo apt-get -y upgrade ; sudo apt-get -y install git

Installing the SW and setting up the Gateway

• Create the User ttn & make them a super user : sudo adduser ttn ; sudo adduser ttn sudo 
• Add ttn to the sudoers file : sudo visudo -> Add : ttn ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
• Logout and login as ttn, then remove pi :sudo userdel -rf pi

• Download their great script : git clone -b spi https://github.com/ttn-zh/ic880a-gateway.git ~/ic880a-gateway
  

• Change to the downloaded files : cd ~/ic880a-gateway
• Run the install script :  sudo ./install.sh spi
• Open your Browser and goto TheThingsNetwork console  (press the arrow on your profile if you were wondering) -> Gateways -> Register Gateway        

• Ensure you tick the legacy packet forwarder tickbox
• On your terminal screen of the script you will see :Detected EUI XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX from eth0
• Use this as your Gateway EUI (I copied and pasted it), you can complete the rest of the details - but do make note of the longitude and latitude when you position the gateway - and save the gateway
• Now back to the command line: 
• When script will ask the next question which is Do you want to use remote settings file? [y/N] -> Answer N
• The rest of the questions you can answer as you wish (filling in the Lat/Long from your gateway config). For Elevation I used https://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htm -> Scroll down and enter the Lat/Long and you get an estimated Altitude (pick the meters)
• A lot goes on and you get some notes that look like warnings - they are only formatting warnings
• The last message you will get is that your node will reboot.
  

Configure the TTN-ZH Install

•  After the reboot log in as ttn and cd /opt/ttn-gateway/bin
• Edit start.sh and change SX1301_RESET_BCM_PIN=25 to SX1301_RESET_BCM_PIN=7
• If you are in the EU you are done, but for me I had to edit the global_conf.json &  local_conf.json files. The main one is to install the AU-global_conf.json file (https://github.com/TheThingsNetwork/gateway-conf/blob/master/AU-global_conf.json) and for safe measure I changed the server to the Australia server (you can find that at https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/wiki/Backend/Connect/Gateway) - leave the ports at 1700 (even when the gateway registration leads you to think it should be 1901)

Up and Running

• You should now see it change to connected status in your console  (Otherwise use the gateway link to troubleshoot the connection)
• Now to add some nodes